prosperous age

Chapter 922 1011 Nanyang must go

"The general will see Mr. Wei Ge at the end."

In the back hall of the official office of Tianjin Acropolis Town, Wei Guangde sat on the Taishi chair and looked at Yu Dayou who came in.

The establishment of the old city of Tianjin began in 1404. Zhu Di named it "Tianjin", which actually means "Emperor's Ferry". This name is not only a symbol of the city, but also has a profound meaning for the gift of this land.

During this period, the Ming army set up guards and built a city in Zhigu Village. Zhang Sigong, the supervisor of the Tianjin Acropolis, and Chen Xuan, the chief repair officer, started the initial construction project of the city.

The establishment of Tianjin Wei was not only the birth of a city, but also the formation of a military organization.

Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, ordered the establishment of Tianjin Guards, Tianjin Left Guards, and Tianjin Right Guards, collectively known as the "Three Guards". This was a military organization of the Ming Dynasty, led by a commander, and directly under the rear army governor's office.

Each guard has 5600 soldiers, and the three guards have a total of 16800 people, aiming to defend the capital and maintain local security.

At the same time, the Ministry of Industry was carrying out city construction and water conservancy improvements here.

To this day, this new city has spent more than a hundred years and has undergone several reconstructions to achieve what it looks like today.

A few days ago, when the fleet was approaching Tianjin, it was discovered by the Youwei patrol ship. They immediately reported it to the guard station and hurriedly reported it to the Ministry of War. Only then did Wei Guangde appear here today.

After all, as the military commander with the highest official position in the Ming Dynasty today, he should lead his troops to Tianjin and go to Beijing to meet Emperor Wanli.

However, the Ministry of War arranged errands, and Emperor Wanli was also young, so he was not suitable to meet with local officials, which would easily make them feel contemptuous.

Therefore, Wei Guangde came here as a matter of course, and he was "hunting on behalf of the sky."

"Get up, it's been a while, so I came over to see you."

Wei Guangde asked Yu Dayou to stand up and looked at his gray hair and beard with some emotion.

When he first met Yu Dayou, he was still a muscular man in his forties. Later, when he experienced the disaster of the Jiajing Year, Yu Dayou was also middle-aged.

The impression in Wei Guangde's mind has always stayed at this moment.

Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, people have grown so old when we meet again.

Pointing to the first chair at the bottom, Wei Guangde said softly: "Sit."

"Thanks"

Just as Yu Dayou was about to thank him, he saw Wei Guangde waving his hand at him.

Yu Dayou knew that Wei Guangde didn't like these red tape and frivolous things, so he shut up and sat down directly.

"you're old."

Wei Guangde looked at Yu Dayou, who looked increasingly older, and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Hearing Wei Guangde's words, Yu Dayou had no emotion or other thoughts. He just replied loudly: "The last general can still fight for the imperial court for ten years."

"ten years?"

Wei Guangde frowned and asked.

"The general knows his body well. There will be no problems for ten years. But after ten years, it's hard to tell."

Yu Dayou has fully stated his physical condition. He is in good health now and there is no need to worry in ten years.

Wei Guangde nodded slightly, and then waved outside. Deng Zilong walked in from outside the hall, first saluted Wei Guangde, and then saluted Yu Dayou.

"The last general Deng Zilong meets the commander-in-chief."

"You are Deng Yunqing. I didn't expect to see you here. Are you transferred to the capital?"

Yu Dayou also had a good memory. He immediately recognized the guard general who had followed him. He immediately stood up and helped him up with a smile, and then pulled him to sit aside.

Yu Dayou is not stupid. Deng Zilong is from Jiangxi. He appears next to Wei Guangde again this time. It is obvious that he is a fellow countryman and has sought refuge under Wei Guangde.

When he was young, Yu Dayou didn't understand, or deliberately pretended not to understand, but now, at an age where he knows his destiny, how could he not understand.

Military generals have no connections in the court, so even if they have battlefield methods, it will be in vain.

Without the support of civilian officials, all efforts of military commanders will be in vain. His history is a ready example.

Thinking about it before meeting Wei Guangde, if he hadn't accidentally met Lu Bing and fallen into his eyes, he might have died in the capital long ago.

After Wei Guangde emerged from the court, his official career seemed to have become smoother. Although he was still impeached by Shangguan from time to time, the punishments were mostly neither light nor heavy.

But now, no one has enough food to impeach him.

Because the officials around him all know that the big figure behind Yu Dayou is in the cabinet, the second assistant with a strong voice.

Impeaching him is not only fruitless, but also creates enemies in the officialdom for nothing. Anyone who has nothing to do is asking for trouble.

I didn't have the conditions in the past, but I was young, energetic and ignorant, and liked to contradict my boss everywhere.

Now that I have the conditions, I no longer contradict my boss, and I am a good person. Hello everyone.

"Come and see. Zilong wants to be transferred to the north. Tan Zili plans to let him go to Guangxi to lead troops, or to train with you to see if he can learn the tactics of water warfare."

Wei Guangde waited until the two sat down before speaking.

"Guangxi."

Yu Dayou knew as soon as he heard that, just as he thought, Wei Guangde should be the one to start thinking about his successor.

With Qi Huhu in the north, he should be able to work for another twenty years, but in the south, they still need someone to lead the army.

Deng Zilong should be the person they found.

"Yun Qing is good at fighting in battle formations. He should not be suitable for fighting in the southwest."

Yu Dayou's words eliminated the possibility of Deng Zilong going to Guangxi, because he lacked flexibility against the enemy and was better at commanding the showdown of the army's majestic formations.

"Battle formation? Does that mean we should move to the north?"

Wei Guangde asked hesitantly.

"General of the Northern Army, you might want to join the Navy."

Yu Dayou said.

"Okay, you can take him to practice water fighting and lead the water master."

Wei Guangde immediately said, "I will handle the official documents from the Ministry of War when I return to the capital and send them directly to Zhejiang."

Yu Dayou nodded and said: "Well, it just so happens that this transport of Ji Zhen's troops and horses to Gaizhou is actually considered a military order. He can try to give command, especially the organization of the large group of troops when they disembark in Gaizhou."

Therefore, Deng Zilong's destination was decided. He would learn naval warfare from Yu Dayou.

"By the way, Mr. Wei Ge, during this trip to Beijing, the fleet encountered the current Denglai Navy in Jiaodong."

Yu Dayou took the opportunity to meet Wei Guangde and told Wei Guangde in detail what he saw about the Denglai Navy and what he learned from talking with Xu Qiaoan.

"So, the state of Shandong Guard's warships is actually very bad?"

Although Wei Guangde had his guesses, the actual situation still exceeded his expectations and was far lower than the introduction on paper.

Yes, Wei Guangde drew a circle and handed over all the warships in Shandong Province to the Dengzhou Water Camp, and handed over the eight major water camps in Shandong to the Denglai Navy for management. He also read the information handed over by the Shandong Dusi, which is clear. It is written that there were nearly 200 warships going to sea.

Wei Guangde knew that the Ministry of War was pissy, but he thought there should be at least a hundred warships, but he didn't know that there were only a few dozen, and the largest was only a medium-sized fortune ship.

In fact, this was not because Tan Lun from the Ministry of War deceived him, and Tan Lun did not know the details of the Shandong Dusi Navy. It was just a layer of deception from the guard station to the capital and then to the capital.

"After you go back this time, take a look at the old warships in the Nanyang Navy, pick out the ones that are still usable, and prepare to hand them over to the Denglai Navy."

Having said this, Wei Guangde paused for a moment, and waited for Yu Dayou to understand before continuing: "Make some space, otherwise the Nanyang Navy will continue to build ships on a large scale given the current scale of the Nanyang Navy, and there will be criticism in the court." '

Transferring some ships to the Denglai Navy can effectively reduce the scale. Wei Guangde can even make some manipulations and transfer the money originally planned by the Ministry of Industry to build ships for the Denglai Navy to the Nanyang Navy.

"By the way, I talked about surveying and mapping the barbarian ships before. Can you bring the atlas this time?"

As Yu Dayou said before, regarding the training status of the Denglai Navy, Wei Guangde does not expect much from this team in the short term.

It's better to let them practice first, and then equip them with better warships.

"The general has been brought."

Yu Dayou immediately stood up, walked to the entrance of the lobby, took a few rolls of books from a guard, and returned to Wei Guangde. Wei Guangde stood up, walked to a fairly spacious coffee table and said, "Put it here."

Yu Dayou brought the album over, opened a volume of it, and spread it on the coffee table.

What came into view was a warship with a low hull. Several wooden pulps extended from the hull, resembling the long legs of a centipede.

"Is this the barbarian centipede boat you were talking about?"

Wei Guangde asked with a frown.

The so-called centipede boat is a large boat with rows of wood pulp on both sides of the boat. Because the wooden paddles are large and numerous, they can move quickly with the sails. But note that the main power of the centipede boat is the wooden paddle! Because it looks like a centipede, it is called "centipede boat".

"Yes, this boat is powered by wood paddles and can also be accelerated by sails. It has excellent maneuverability.

There are multiple artillery pieces installed on the bow, and multiple artillery pieces can also be equipped on the sides, making it a weapon in naval warfare.

Because the ship is fast, has a rounded hull, but is not very deep, it is suitable for activities in coastal waters scattered with islands. The Yi people often use this ship to travel to Southeast Asia. "

Yu Dayou introduced, "But."

"But what?"

Wei Guangde said in surprise.

Yu Dayou was so optimistic about the ship, but this turn was a bit abrupt.

"This ship consumes a lot of wood, and because it relies on oars to drive, this kind of ship cannot be built large. The longest is only ten feet, and it can carry more than a hundred people. The consumption cannot be compared with the lucky ship."

Yu Dayou said hesitantly.

Wei Guangde shook his head gently, and Yu Dayou thought it was dissatisfaction with his words, so he felt a little panicked.

Before he could continue organizing his speech to talk about the disadvantages of the barbarian centipede boat, he was interrupted by Wei Guangde.

He knew that Wei Guangde shook his head not because he denied the centipede boat, but because the so-called Yi boat in front of him was completely different from what he had in mind.

Although artillery can be arranged on the side of this centipede ship, Wei Guangde could tell at a glance that this ship was not the Western sailing ship he had in mind.

Also, since it is a large sailing ship, its driving force must be mainly based on sail power. How can it use a large amount of wood pulp?

It’s not the navy of the ancient Roman Empire in the Mediterranean. It seems that more wood-pulp boats are still active there.

"The Yi people mainly rely on this kind of ship to be active on the ocean?"

Wei Guangde asked hesitantly.

"The Yi people mainly relied on this kind of ship for transportation."

Yu Dayou said, "The combat power is indeed very strong."

Wei Guangde waved his hand, with high mobility and a large number of artillery, the combat power must be strong.

However, it is also clear that the centipede ship is suitable for coastal waters but not for the ocean. It is definitely not the kind of large sailing ship that is the mainstream of European navies.

"Are there any other atlases of Yi people's ships? Take them out and I'll take a look."

Wei Guangde said immediately.

After Yu Dayou showed two more volumes of maritime ship atlases, Wei Guangde finally saw what he wanted to see, the kind of large sailing ship in his impression.

It has a huge triangular sail, a long and narrow hull, a tall hull, and a row of gun windows on both sides of the hull.

"What kind of ship is this?"

Wei Guangde immediately asked, pointing to the album and the ship.

"This is a sea-going ship produced in Luzon. According to them, it is called the Manila Galleon. It is an armed merchant ship with a shallow draft and inconvenient offshore activities. However, it has good maneuverability and speed at sea, which is suitable for changing oceans. Navigate the environment.

The biggest advantage of this kind of ship is actually its large carrying capacity, which can meet the needs of ocean going. "

Yu Dayou immediately explained, "This kind of ship often appears in Yuegang, and our people have also been on it, but this kind of ship is a merchant ship, not a warship, although it can place a large number of artillery on its sides.

But in fact, if there were not many pirates, the shipowner would prefer to use the gun room as a cargo hold to hold more cargo. "

Speaking of this, Yu Dayou recalled for a moment, and then said as if he was remembering it again: "By the way, I heard that the Yi people also used similar ships to modify frigates to escort merchant ships."

"Armed merchant ship? Loading cargo?"

Wei Guangde muttered a few words in a low voice and fell into thinking again.

"There is another piece of news. It was told by a Han Chinese who has been following the Yi people for many years and is still active here."

Yu Dayou spoke again at this time.

"You said."

Wei Guangde looked up at him and said.

"This ship is a larger one, and the Yi people call it a 'treasure ship'. It is said to carry fine silks, spices, and gold and jewelry between their country and here.

The general thinks that this kind of ship should be suitable for long-distance voyages and used as a merchant ship, but its maneuverability is indeed too poor and it is not suitable for use as a warship. "

Yu Dayou explained his thoughts, and Wei Guangde nodded slightly.

"This kind of ship has two decks?"

Wei Guangde looked at the album and asked again.

"I heard it has up to seven floors. It's very huge and can carry a lot of artillery. But that person has never been up there, so I don't know the details."

Yu Dayou said.

"Can Daming build this ship?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

"hiss"

Yu Dayou gasped and did not answer for a while.

"Why, it can't be made?"

Wei Guangde asked in surprise.

"Mr. Wei Ge, our people really can't build this ship, but it's not hard to find people who can build it. Many Han people on Luzon Island have participated in the construction of this type of ship, but the hull is slightly smaller. Just those common merchant ships.”

Yu Dayou said.

"Think of a way, find craftsmen, and let's build this kind of ship."

Wei Guangde immediately said big.

"But."

Yu Dayou hesitated to speak, as if he didn't know whether he should say it or not.

"If you have any difficulty, just ask."

Wei Guangde also saw that it seemed that the Nanyang Navy encountered difficulties that it could not solve.

“Shipbuilding requires a lot of wood, and good wood is hard to find these days.”

Yu Dayou hesitated for a moment and then whispered, "I was not optimistic about the centipede boat before because it was difficult to purchase good wood and could not be built."

"Then why can the Yi people build it?"

Wei Guangde asked with a frown.

"There is a lot of wood in Nanyang that can be used to build ships, but our Ming Dynasty is short of it and has used it all up."

Yu Dayou replied.

"Think of a way. Since I know there is it in Nanyang, I should be able to get it back, as well as the craftsmen."

Wei Guangde made the decision that this ship must be built, "We must also go to Nanyang."

(End of this chapter)